The Insider: Talented Wolves duo can make Pompey impacts

With Wolves doing so well, there is currently no room for Connor Ronan and Sylvain Deslandes, but that’s not to say that will be the case in the long term, explains Tim Spiers, of the Express & Star...

Connor has the potential to be extremely good, it has been a real pleasure watching him mature over the last two or three years.

I first noticed him on a pre-season tour under Kenny Jackett in the summer of 2015. He was this little lad on the sidelines and then came on during a practice game and within 10 minutes had stuck one in the top corner.

He has not really pushed into the first-team hugely since then because of his slight size and his short height, yet is talented, has all the technique you need and possesses a fantastic range of passing.

All Connor needs is that experience in men’s football to mature into a proper player.

Kenny Jackett really liked him when Molineux boss but held him back a little because of his age, while his successor, Paul Lambert, did use Connor on occasions.

The issue this season is that he doesn’t really fit into Nuno Espirito Santo’s 3-4-3 system. He is not considered ready to be a central midfielder – and is not quite a forward, either.

You can see him as a regular in the 4-2-3-1 across the attacking positions, especially the number 10.

Wolves think really highly of Connor and he has also come through the Republic of Ireland set-up.

As for Sylvain, he was brought to the club as a left-back by Kenny in summer 2015 and out of nowhere was handed his debut at Hull in April 2016.

The season was effectively over by that stage and although he didn’t let anyone down, he didn’t shine either.

He only featured in the Checkatrade Trophy last season and came back from a loan spell at Bury without having played at all.

When Nuno arrived, he switched Sylvain to a left-sided centre-half rather than wing back and he has done really well and was excellent in a 2-0 Carabao Cup win at Southampton in August.

As a left-back, I have watched him bomb up and down the left flank for the under-23s, chasing the ball like a little Yorkshire Terrier – he has fantastic enthusiasm.

Sylvain is powerful, strong, good in the air and seems to have matured quite a bit this season. He is constantly smiling and loves playing football.